7/28/2016

Get ready for a lot of thinkpieces written about how a reboot of 1991's The Rocketeer is going to destroy a lot of fond childhood memories. That's certainly what happened with Sony's reboot of Ghostbusters, and now that Disney's long-developing reboot of The Rocketeer is moving forward it's bound to rile up the same group of folks.

THR reports that Disney's update will be a"modern day twist" on the Joe Johnston-directed nostalgia piece, and that twist will find an African-American female pilot sporting the jet pack and helmet. Calling all racists and sexists!! The film will be set six years after the original when a new Rocketeer takes up the mantle to protect the jet pack technology from an evil scientist bent on using it to his advantage during the Cold War.

So far no director is attached but the duo of Max Winkler and Matt Spicer, who previously collaborated on Ceremony, while pen the screenplay. They've got a tough task on their hands. The original movie has become a cult favorite, which is part of the reason why Disney is keen on bringing the property back, but it didn't attract much of an audience when originally released. Audiences just weren't into movies that loving embraced the serialized pulp of an earlier era. Three years the similarly-toned Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrowwould open and was just as much of a bust.